Not So Ordinary Day
by Rai-kun
Summary: What exactly is ordinary in a ninja village?
1. Chapter 1

Besides the odd hole in the thick cloud cover where the  
sunlight could pierce it, the sky was a hazy shade of dull  
grey.

It was a perfect day for training. Admittedly, not many  
shared this sentiment, save for one whiskered boy.

Naruto Uzumaki was presently in one of his favorites spots  
in Konoha. It wasn't Ichiraku's or the scenic top of the  
Hokage Monument, but it was a place he could unofficially  
claim as his own. In the dense expanse of the hidden  
valley's vast forest was a natural glade that he'd come   
across while exploring, perfect for training in private.

Pride was something that came packed with Naruto in spades  
and it didn't like taking hits by people around him when he  
wasn't good at something. It happened pretty often, sure,  
but it didn't mean he liked it.

He wasn't afraid of hard work, but he sure as heck wasn't  
going to train in the open and expose himself to a  
situation where every mistake and failure on his part could  
be used as fuel to ridicule him.

He'd prove them all wrong in the end though. Once he  
attained the status of 'greatest ninja in all of Konoha' he  
was going to show everyone that Naruto Uzumaki wasn't a  
total failure and that "dead last" wasn't a tag that was  
going to hold him back.

Naruto wore many hats, or a forehead protector in this  
case, that described his character and personality to a  
tee. Loudmouth, prankster, and general all-purpose  
troublemaker extraordinaire were, but a few. Today he was  
"Naruto, industrious builder" and he had work to do.

------------

Not so Ordinary Day

Chapter 1

By Rai-kun

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters and settings belong  
to Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, and Viz Communication.

------------

A search of the forest had yielded him four fairly sturdy  
logs that he'd dragged into the clearing. With a length of  
hemp rope that he'd brought with him on this trip, he  
busied himself with the task of lashing them together into  
the vague semblance of a human figure. On completion, he  
went on to dig a small hole where he could slide the   
vertical log into place to keep it steady.

Naruto wiped his sweat-soaked brow with the sleeve of his  
orange jacket and let out a tired, satisfied sigh, as he  
gazed at his handiwork. It was taller than him by a head  
or two, but it was perfect for the purpose it would soon be  
serving. He glanced to his left at the two other projects  
that'd done him proud.

The first was a single post that jutted out of the ground.  
It was about the width of two arms held together, the top  
third of which was wrapped in rope well worn with heavy  
use. Naruto had built it so he could practice how to   
properly strike a target with his fist and feet.

Walking up to it, he punched it squarely with a quick right  
jab, sending the log reeling backwards, but it soon came  
rocketing back at him and he blocked it with his left palm.  
He struck it again, this time on its side, with a right  
hook. It swung back in counter once more and he dodged  
it this time around.

It was basic in design, but he loved the darned thing.  
Naruto had wrapped the bottom half of the log with a series  
of rubber inner tubes that would allow it to absorb each  
blow before bouncing back, which forced him to either  
parry, dodge, or counter strike.

He was actually entertaining the idea of attaching kunai to  
random areas to up the ante, but that was going to be a  
project for another day.

He moved his gaze next to the last training device. There  
wasn't much to it at all - just a series of stationary  
wooden targets of varying sizes, shapes, and set distances.

Naruto took off his jacket, which was slick from his  
earlier exertions, and took a stance. A quick motion to  
the bandolier on his leg produced two shuriken and from a  
leg pouch he withdrew what looked like a dagger attached to  
a length of wire that he used to twirl it by.

The little instrument was a rope javelin, and it was a  
handy little device he used to catch small animals when  
he'd have to forage for food, which was why some of the  
targets were so small and set low to the ground. The  
entire weapon was smooth except for the head, which had a  
series of serrated edges to make sure it couldn't be easily   
removed. It was attached to a fishing line that led into  
an actual spool assembly.

A deft flick of his wrists sent all three flying towards  
their intended targets.

The steel bolt flew true with the nearly invisible line  
trailing behind it as it punched into the side of a small  
target about the size of a rabbit.

One of the four-pronged shuriken viciously imbedded itself  
in the human-sized target near the rough equivalent of the   
throat.

The second one though...

"Noooo!" Naruto howled in horror as he watched his precious  
weapon veer into the dense foliage.

He made a move to go and retrieve his wayward tool, but  
stopped. Reaching into a small pouch, where the wire from  
the bolt fed into, he removed a fishing spool and set it on   
the ground so it wouldn't tangle. Naruto then continued on  
his "search and rescue" mission like a dutiful ninja.

Waste not, want not was a prudent proverb for the  
financially challenged.

------------

Naruto was unaware that his performance of skill and labor  
was not without spectator fanfare.

Hinata Hyuuga was a nice, respectable young lady, among  
many things, but much to the vexing frustration of her  
father she was also a closet voyeur.

This was a point of fact that, if brought to attention,  
would send the poor girl into a profusely crimson fit rife  
with weakly sputtered denials and a fainting spell for good  
measure.

She rather preferred likening the activity to star gazing  
or even bird watching, as these were more wholesome   
analogies and closer to the reasoning in her mind than  
"lecherously leering in an unsavory manner."

Because that just wasn't the case at all.

Really.

From her spot, obscured behind a wide tree, Hinata was able  
to cast her longing gaze across the t-shirt clad back of  
her object of affection. A delightful tingle ran up her  
spine when she caught sight of the boy's intense blue eyes,  
currently scanning hither and thither for his quarry.

It was hard to say definitively whether this activity was  
sadly pathetic, cute on a saccharine level, or disturbing  
in some fashion, but what it could be classified as was  
being typical.

It was merely an element of another ordinary day at the  
Hidden Village of the Leaf and it was in keeping to her  
typical routine that Hinata Hyuuga bid a silent retreat  
without word or gesture.

Like always.

She noticed the ominous rolling of clouds overhead. It was  
a murky mixture of grey and dark grey with intermittent  
splotches of black, forecasting possibly inclement weather.

In the immortal words of a sagely ninja it could only mean,  
signal, and possibly be one thing: troublesome.

------------

Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno had a long and  
complex relationship that dated back years.

They were acquaintances that soon became best friends. A  
shared target of romantic interest saw them next as  
friendly rivals with hints of bitterness, but here they  
were, friends once more - even though they retained their  
competitiveness, which was born from their contentions.

At heart they were two very kind girls who cared for each  
other deeply. Could they be faulted if yelling, the   
occasional hair pulling, and fisticuffs conveyed meaning  
that casual observer couldn't pick up on? There was  
underlying meaning in each gesture that carried shrouded  
intent and depth that was beyond simple reckoning.

It had taken Sakura a week to come up with that reasoning.

Ino was currently in a quandary, as she wanted to inflict  
grievous bodily harm on her pink-haired companion. That  
she didn't was a testament to how long the road they had  
traveled in the name of friendship ran, current thoughts  
notwithstanding.

It wasn't like Ino hated Sakura - far from it. The girl  
was pleasant and they shared a wide range of interests that  
made them fast and easy friends. It was, though, rather  
annoying that the girl tended to ramble when she got on a  
roll and could go on and on and on and on...

"So then, that's when he said 'You need to practice more  
responsibility,'" Sakura was animated, speaking in a  
falsetto as she recanted the lines. "And I was thinking to   
myself 'Oh my God. I can't believe he's trying to lecture  
me on this' and I tried not to roll my eyes. But he was  
all serious and a little mad, so he was breathing kind of  
hard through his nose and this whistling 'fwee' noise came  
out of nowhere and I started laughing. So anyway, that's  
when he gave me like this twenty page paper to write on the  
proper customs of addressing elders and superiors, but I  
got that done last night in like an hour and-- is something  
wrong?" Sakura finally asked, blinking at Ino.

There was a bit of a pause without reply then, "Who?  
What?" Ino was jostled from her mental stupor amid the  
sudden and now hanging silence.

"Oh! No, uh, nothing is wrong, really!" She tried to wave  
off Sakura's concerns when the girl gave her a worried   
frown. "I was just..."

'Dying. Whimpering. Falling asleep. Wondering if killing  
you could be justifiable homicide,' her mind provided all  
at once.

"Just thinking that a bit of Naruto had rubbed off on you,"  
Ino verbally parried with a nervous titter. Proud of that  
little comeback, she mentally patted herself on the back.

Sakura wrinkled her nose at the thought, sporting a sour  
countenance at her assertion. "I hope not," she shot back  
as she rubbed both her cheeks in fear that six prominent  
whiskers would soon sprout.

Ino felt a smidge guilty for using the boy as the butt of a  
joke like that, but the concern passed as quickly as it had   
come. She instead switched mental gears by pointing to a  
shop on the left, a few stalls down. "Want to go check out  
the fabric shop?"

"Sure," Sakura said, glad for the change in topic. "No  
orange though," she told the blonde, sticking her tongue  
out, which made Ino chuckle.

------------

Hinata had ducked into the nearest shop overhang when she  
caught sight of Sakura and Ino. It wasn't as if she was  
afraid of the pair, but they both possessed such strong,  
outgoing personalities that set her at unease and made her   
feel inadequate - the latter being the biggest issue.

They walked right by her without so much as a glance or  
greeting, but that suited Hinata just fine as she caught  
the tail end of their discussion regarding Naruto.

There was a slight surge of annoyance at how casually they  
referred to him in such a manner, like a joke. It was  
slightly depressing that other people didn't quite see him  
the way she did. There were times Hinata wished she could   
more boldly give voice to her thoughts and opinions like  
Naruto could when he wanted himself to be heard by those  
around him.

Without care, strong, bold, self-assured, and so...

"...interesting?" an aged woman's voice said from behind  
her, startling her.

"I-I'm sorry?" Hinata asked embarrassedly, turning to  
regard the speaker.

"I asked if you saw anything interesting - in one of my  
fine works, dear," the woman clarified.

She was short - shorter than Hinata herself - but not bent  
over with age; straight-backed, she sat on her cushion with  
her legs pillowed under her. A stirring of wind sent  
rebellious grey-white strands of hair loose and aflutter  
from the pinned bun on her head, causing her to tut and  
push them back behind her ears.

"Surely one of these must catch your eyes?" she asked  
hopefully, sweeping her right arm across a wide assortment  
of decorated bamboo umbrellas that were arranged around her  
shop as she held in her left the frame of one still  
incomplete.

"Ah, um," Hinata managed. She hadn't really paid attention  
to what shop she'd entered and it wasn't as if she was  
shopping for umbrellas in general.

"I'm just browsing for now," she offered, to which the old  
woman nodded, but it wasn't in concession.

"This one here," she pointed out, "would suit you well, I  
think."

Hinata couldn't disagree since it did look very nice. It  
was a soft array of colors – red, orange, blue, and purple  
– all the shades one would catch at twilight.

"Although this one here is a little bigger," the woman  
began to say as a mischievous grin split her face, "so you  
can fit a special 'friend' underneath, if you wish."

Hinata admired the bright orange color, for rather obvious  
reasons, but found herself fascinated by the characters for  
the twelve hand seals that decorated it in black.

When what the shopkeeper was suggesting penetrated her   
thoughts, she grew flustered as she tried to banish the  
notion.

A cackle of amusement that scored victory for the old over  
the youthfully innocent rang through the shop, leaving  
Hinata to stew in embarrassment.

"Oh, I was blissful and chaste once as well," the old woman  
lamented, addressing Hinata, who chose to politely nod at  
the remark.

On the inside, the very thought of what was being suggested  
sent an odd feeling that churned beneath the surface of her  
placid facade. The cold realization of her non-existent  
standing with Naruto dampened the feeling; however, left   
her feeling cheaply hollow.

Reality tended to suck in that way.

Seeing the rather lackluster turn in her customer's mood,   
the woman broke the silence. "I'll give it to you at half   
price, dear," she stated. On seeing Hinata's polite  
refusal forming, she raised a hand to forestall it.

"You might want to reconsider," she pointed out, indicating  
the soft sheet of precipitation that was beginning to fall  
outside. "Your man might appreciate it," she added, to  
what she hoped was the money shot.

The woman's words inadvertently directed Hinata's thoughts  
to Naruto – all alone and quite probably getting drenched   
in the rain. She decided to seal the deal quickly before  
she lost her nerve.

"I'll take it."

------------

The staccato of flesh striking wood came at a steady and  
even beat. It sounded deceptively passive – somewhat  
musical and rhythmic - but it was what it was.

A knife hand to the side of the neck was followed by a jab  
to the windpipe, which led into a swift punch into the  
stomach, and a double-palm strike to the chest.

Destructive.

It was a practiced sequence of attacks directed at just a  
handful of the vital points spread across the human body.  
The effects of each target varied in degree, but all were  
calculated to deliver incapacitation or death.

Such was the Way of the Ninja.

Naruto had been at this for over an hour and his hands were  
beginning to show signs of it. Clenching his fist made him  
hiss and notice the almost inch-long sliver of wood that  
had driven itself into the cleft between his knuckles.

It was luckily large enough that he wouldn't need the aid  
of tweezers to work it out, but that it was that big was a  
real pain.

"Damn it, that hurts!" he whined, after finally ridding  
himself of the wood shard. He squeezed it to make sure  
he'd gotten all the pieces, which forced more blood to exit  
the wound. A liberal application of spit and a vigorous  
shaking of the hand pushed it quickly out of mind though.

The sprinkling of moisture from the sky was still light and  
misty, so he figured he could go for a bit longer. 'Just   
twenty minutes more,' he promised himself. 'Then I'll call  
it quits for the day.'

------------

Ino parted company with Sakura when the rain had started.  
Even if bad weather hadn't set in, the relatively shallow  
depths of their wallet would've seen a quick end to their  
shopping escapade. She was convinced that it was just one  
of the glaring shortcomings that would be addressed once  
they each snagged themselves a significant other.

The thought of growing old and grey with Sakura,  
reminiscing about the "good old days" when they were once  
young and beautiful made her shudder. Wasting away as a  
lonely bachelorette was not an option in Ino Yamanaka's  
social plan.

She'd be satisfied as long as her beau was mildly  
attractive and housebroken. Ino was sure she possessed  
enough skill to mold everything else about him until he  
eventually resembled the ideal boyfriend.

Working at a flower shop, she was used to nurturing flowers  
until they finally bloomed. So it was rather natural, in  
her mind, to think the same of her future significant  
other. Was it ever mentioned that Ino was also a fan of  
makeover projects?

Bringing her musings to a brief pause was a droplet of rain  
that fell onto her forehead. 'Oh yes, it was raining,  
wasn't it?' she mused.

Ino weighed her options. She entertained the notion of  
sprinting from overhang to overhang, to dodge the brunt of  
the rainfall, until eventually reaching home. Using her  
charms and wily ways on a lonely male willing to treat her  
to a warm drink and food in payment for her company was  
considered as well.

Ino crossed them all off as being a hassle, and chose  
instead to look for someone who might be open to sharing  
cover under an umbrella. A wide grin settled on her face  
as she spied a familiar face approaching with uncanny timing.

"Hey, Hinata, do you think I could-" she cut her request  
short as the girl in question whizzed by her in a hurry  
without even a pause.

Ino blinked. Where could Hinata be going in such a hurry,  
she wondered.

"Well, there's only one way to find out," she said  
gleefully, taking off in pursuit. That she was getting  
soaked in chasing Hinata became a trivial matter as  
quenching the thirst of her curiosity became top priority.

Hinata Hyuuga didn't know it yet, but she was caught in the  
deadly crosshairs of an unrepentant gossipmonger and  
unabashed meddler.

------------

By the time Hinata had returned to the clearing, the light  
rain had escalated to a healthy downpour. 'He can't still  
be here,' Hinata thought to herself as she hurried towards  
the clearing, wondering why she wasn't back comfortably  
under the roof of her own home.

The answer to that was simple enough, and required no real  
thought - she HAD to be certain that Naruto wasn't still  
practicing in the rain.

'And it's a good thing I did,' she told herself a moment  
later as she caught sight of the boy still standing in  
front of his wooden opponent.

His shoulders were slumped, he was drenched from head to  
toe, but what worried her slightly was that he wasn't  
really moving from his spot. He simply stood there in the  
pouring rain and swayed unsteadily on his foot.

Concern won a quick, decisive battle over nervousness and  
indecision as she found herself already moving and now just  
a few steps behind the boy.

"N-Naruto?" she asked the rooted figure. Hinata wondered  
for a moment if her soft voice had even carried over the  
sound of the falling rain.

She moved to stand in front of him and she could finally  
see that he was breathing heavily with soggy hair veiling  
most of his features. In an uncharacteristically bold  
move, she placed a hand on his shoulder and his eyes  
fluttered open, focusing on her.

A detached portion of her mind marveled at how much  
prettier they were when up close, but her addled mind spit  
out a series of gibberish nonsense that she hoped sounded  
like 'Are you okay?'.

Hinata stopped speaking when he flashed a weak smile, but  
squawked in shock when his head pitched forward to rest  
against her chest.

"Lied. More than twenty minutes..." he mumbled out, which  
made no sense whatsoever.

Her umbrella had been dropped in favor of her current  
burden and now she was left to ponder what to do.

"Na-Naruto?" she asked again.

No response, beyond Naruto limply rolling his head and  
groaning against her--

Hinata turned a shade of red that bordered on burgundy.  
"Hyah!" she yelped, as she fought the reflex to fling  
Naruto away from her... water soaked...

She couldn't even finish the thought, so great was her  
mortification.

"I-I," she stuttered as her legs then chose to wobble under  
her and she began to lose her footing beneath Naruto's  
weight.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Hinata called out rapidly in panicked  
succession as her legs began to slide in the muck, leading  
to a slow, meandering collapse that ended with her flat on  
her back with the object of her affections atop her. With  
her legs framing his body, she was spread out in a lewd and   
scandalously wanton manner.

Hinata whimpered piteously.

Naruto snored softly totally unaware of the girl's plight.

------------

From her perch overhead in the treetops, Ino looked down on  
the pair with eyes wide in shock as she kept both hands  
firmly over her mouth.

This was big, huge - monumental even!

'Hinata and Naruto!' her mind squealed over and over in  
delight. If she wasn't trying to keep herself from being  
discovered she'd be shaking with excitement at snagging  
this juicy piece of news. The feeling of knowing a secret  
before anyone else always filled her with a warm and   
pleasant satisfaction.

She grumbled in silent disappointment, as she wasn't close  
enough to catch what the couple was whispering to each  
other. Her eyes eagerly drank deeply of the whole sequence  
of events and she had a fairly good idea on how this affair  
was playing out.

Hinata approached Naruto and after a brief exchange of  
words, he rested his head against her. She hesitantly  
wrapped her arms around him in response. He was adamant in  
his need for her as he gently guided her to the forest  
floor where they became entangled and were leading up to...

The blonde's face took on a scarlet tinge as her mind  
continued to progress her thoughts to its inevitable and  
natural conclusion. Ino covered her face with her hands,  
amazed, and embarrassed, at the forwardness that Naruto  
exhibited in showing his feelings for Hinata. It repainted  
the mental image she had of him with new and interesting  
colors.

There was a short mental argument over whether she should  
stay or go now. As much as she wanted to know, she knew it  
was wrong to intrude further on a private moment like this.  
With that decided, she leapt away to leave the pair to  
conclude their business sans prying eyes.

Ino would never have imagined her little adventure was  
going to yield something of this magnitude. Her original  
course towards home shifted in the direction of Sakura's.  
She just HAD to tell someone about this before she exploded  
from trying to keep this secret to herself without release.

------------

Hinata bravely fought down the surge of emotions that raged  
wildly within her. Craning her neck earned her an  
unobstructed view of Naruto's sleeping face, which made the  
breath catch in her throat.

Hinata, being the honest girl that she was, admitted quite  
guiltily that this wasn't an all-together negative  
experience. She had a few memorable dreams like this, she  
recalled, though none had played out in this exact manner.

A twinge of indecision flared inside her as she tentatively  
brushed Naruto's golden forelocks. Hinata had never deeply  
explored her feelings for him, save that she inevitably  
found her eyes drawn to him and that simply being nearby  
made her pulse quicken in excitement.

Yet with her heart still enshrouded in turmoil, here she  
was, caught in a compromising position with the source of  
her consternation pillowed on her bosom. So it was no  
wonder that she was caught up in playing hostess to the  
conflicting thoughts that now took residence within her  
mind.

She closed her eyes and struggled with the effort to regain  
a measure of calm. Her ragged breathing evened out and  
became smoother as she wrestled extraneous thoughts to the  
wayside. The why and the how of her heart weren't as  
important as the simple fact that it simply felt the way it  
did. The crude answer was: just because.

When she tried to imagine spending time with Naruto, gentle  
warmth filled her very being. Envisioning a world without  
him blew a chill in her chest that formed a cold lump in  
her gut. Though thinking of the closeness they shared now  
made her...

Well, there went the control.

Naruto muttered in his sleep, too garbled for Hinata to  
discern, but the movement set her eyes to focus on his  
slightly parted lips. It seemed as if it was intentionally  
calling to her like a deadly Siren's song.

Hinata found herself inexplicably mesmerized as she slowly  
drew closer, inch-by-inch. She felt the touch of his warm  
breath on her cheek and it was then that the butterflies in  
the pit of her stomach took flight in full force. They  
fluttered about crazily and she could've sworn they were  
trying to exit through her navel.

The clouds gave way to sunlight as the rainstorm lost  
momentum, releasing the warmth that had been withheld  
behind the shield of grey.

------------

Hinata skidded to a halt then bent over wheezing after the  
full out sprint that she'd broken into. Her destination  
was home, but first she needed time to collect herself lest  
her father catch her in such a state and begin asking  
pointed questions she didn't want to answer.

She was still swimming in the heady afterglow of her  
boldness. It was as if she'd tapped into a veritable  
fountain of recklessness that hummed through her system  
even now.

Dainty fingers were raised to her pink lips. 'Why did  
I...?' she wondered, when a hand suddenly clapped her on  
the shoulder from behind.

"Yo!" a familiar male voice called out jovially.

Jolting, she quickly turned with her hands placed over her  
chest, to see Kiba Inazuka. Behind him was her other  
teammate, Shino Aburame, and her instructor, Kurenai Yuhi.

Her heart skipped a beat on seeing them all assembled like  
this. 'Do they know?' her irrational mind whispered.

"Sorry," Kiba offered, not expecting to catch her so  
totally unaware.

"N-no, it's okay," she stuttered in assurance.

The nervousness that went beyond casual didn't escape the  
notice of Shino and Kurenai, but a quirked brow on the part  
of the insect manipulator was the only visible indication  
that the group saw anything out of place.

"You seem... flustered," Shino pointed out flatly. His  
gaze seemed to pierce through his sunshades, from Hinata's  
point of view.

Hinata swallowed as her mouth ran dry. Well, what could   
she say to that?

"You seem to be in quite a hurry," Kurenai added.

Hinata laughed uneasily, her voice almost cracking. Yes,  
that was true, she granted.

Akamaru barked three times in succession as he sniffed the  
air and pawed his master. "And you smell like Naruto?"  
Kiba said quizzically, translating the words of the pup  
perched on his shoulder.

Hinata choked.

Kiba took his own whiff to be certain. "And you DO," he  
confirmed, earning an amused look from Kurenai and another  
raised brow from Shino.

Hinata fumbled for an adequate response, but only managed a  
distraught squeak.

"You know, I'm always here to talk, if there are things  
you're too embarrassed to discuss with your parents,"  
Kurenai told her, giving the poor girl what she hoped was a  
reassuring smile.

It wasn't. Hinata gibbered madly before deciding that the  
better part of valor was running... right into the base of  
a street sign.

She wobbled drunkenly on her legs before dropping like a  
fallen tree. Three voices called out to her in concern,  
but the thought that occupied her mind was why things  
weren't playing out like every other ordinary day.

------------

Author's Note: There's certainly enough material here to  
make this a multi-chapter work, but that's going to require  
some planning on my part. So, for now, this is going to  
sit and simmer as a one-shot, but that status could easily  
change given time or inspiration.


	2. Chapter 2

Being able to watch the falling rain is a soothing  
activity, especially for those who can manage to keep dry.  
Calming as it may have been, it was also seen as a nuisance  
to those who didn't enjoy being forcibly cloistered  
indoors. Sakura Haruno was unfortunately one such  
individual.

Her pink head of hair was currently swathed in a yellow  
towel. The soak in the tub had warmed her after enduring  
the involuntary march through the downpour. She looked  
like the picture of contentment with her arms folded across  
her desk and head pillowed comfortably on top. A faceless  
patch of grey-black sky stared back at her through the  
window and Sakura wished she could see the stars.

'Was it still day out, or was it night now?' she wondered  
through squinted eyes. The clouds over the village were so  
thick that it was hard to tell without looking at her  
clock.

Drip, clink, and splash - the raindrops fell into every  
puddle and runoff in watery chorus.

Clink, clunk, and clank – roof tiles and rain gutters  
wove an odd tune.

Steel, tin, brass, anything that covered houses and  
littered the streets became instruments. On days like this  
it was a common backbeat, often serving as welcome reprieve  
from the stifling silence.

"Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!" Sakura cried out loudly in  
frustration. She thrashed and twisted atop her swivel  
chair, throwing a fit. Disgusted with herself, she finally  
pushed away from her desk and belly flopped onto her bed,   
unleashing a groan into her pillow.

Was it also mentioned that the noise did wonders to drive  
stir-crazy ninja girls to annoyance?

------------

Not so Ordinary Day

Chapter 2

By Rai-kun

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters and settings belong  
to Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, and Viz Communication.

------------

From the top of her head to the tips of her toes, she felt  
a heavy and persistent weariness in every inch of muscle  
that no amount of stretching, hot water, or doctor could  
hope to cure. Her affliction had a common source, a single  
trigger, and was marked by the symptoms she currently  
wrestled with. Sakura rolled her head towards her   
nightstand with an arm draped lazily over one eye that made  
her look more like her instructor than she would've liked.  
She dragged a finger across a framed photo, marring the  
clean, glassy surface.

"Sasuke..." Uttering that name was like an incantation  
that keyed open a door to a great jumble of emotions that  
played across her face.

The boy managed to always leave her feeling twisted up  
inside and that was a problem for her once so logical  
mindscape. Before puberty had announced its arrival with  
the loud strike of a gong, Sakura had been quite content  
with her small inner circle that consisted solely of her  
friends, teachers, parents, and herself. Now she had to  
contend with mooning over every wax and wane of the tide  
that was Sasuke Uchiha's mood.

She was only a few years removed from thinking all boys  
were icky and infected with cooties, yet "maturity" somehow  
changed all her silly notions. From time to time, she  
still mused that dealing with boys was so much easier when  
shoving and hair pulling was the game. At least then she  
could just punch them in the face and be done with it.

Now? Everything just had to be so... complicated.

An incessant rapping against her window jostled her  
thoughts back to current events. Quirking her head, Sakura  
caught sight of a wet and bedraggled Ino who furiously  
signaled her dire need to be let in. Sakura had to bite  
down hard on her bottom lip to keep from making snide  
references to "wet bacon" as she undid the latch to her  
window.

Ino's sandals made a wet, squelching noise on Sakura's  
wooden floor as she entered and it wasn't long before a  
puddle began to pool around her. She "borrowed" the towel  
off of Sakura's head, earning a miffed frown, and paid her  
no mind as she wiped her face and hair. The girl fussed  
over her sodden clothes that clung to her and generally  
made a show of it until Sakura began tapping her foot   
impatiently. Ino looked up and finally graced Sakura with  
a familiar look that said, "I know something that you're  
going to want to know."

"Out with it, Ms. Piggy," Sakura prompted to get her  
visiting bard to sing. The angry spark that flashed in  
Ino's eyes was quickly tempered with a blanket of smugness.  
That subtle reaction didn't get by Sakura's notice and she  
gave her full attention.

"Words like that make me think you don't want to know," Ino  
drawled, teasingly.

"You mean you came running through the rain at this hour  
just to have me throw you out my window?" Sakura returned  
cutely.

"Touche." Ino saluted her opponent with a rude hand  
gesture.

"But of course," Sakura riposted by blowing her a  
raspberry.

The pair shared warm laughter before Ino sneezed.

"So," Sakura broached, trying not to be rude, "why DID you  
come over? Not that I don't appreciate the company, but  
still..."

Ino blew her nose on a tissue as Sakura waited for a  
response. "Well, I stumbled across a bit of news about two  
people getting together!" she gushed.

"Who?" Sakura asked. Ino's mannerisms told her that it  
wouldn't be about Sasuke; for that she was glad, but now  
her curiosity was piqued.

"It involves a certain Hyuuga family member," Ino revealed   
cryptically. She was purposely dragging this out to build  
up drama and to tease - a nasty double-edged weapon she  
wielded with great efficiency, judging by Sakura's  
vexation. "Mmm. First, though, get me something hot to  
drink and then I'll tell you."

There was an awkward pause as Sakura's right eye twitched  
violently and her hands experienced an intense itch that  
could only be cured by strangling an extortionist best  
friend. Ino merely coughed primly, giving Sakura a dainty,  
expectant smile.

'I don't know how it happened, mom. She just jumped out  
the window and tried flapping her arms before hitting the  
ground,' Sakura's inner voice offered sweetly in reply.

Sakura didn't stoop to such tactics, instead shooting Ino a  
dozen times over with a 12 gauge glare. Oh, she knew  
protesting would get her nothing, but they say it's the  
thought that counts, right? Through a forced smile, she  
squeezed out, "This had better be worth it, Blondie..."

Ino simply wore a fat grin, not even deigning to gift her  
host with a reply. She toweled off and watched the waning  
rainstorm, wholly unaware that she'd been the victim of  
over a hundred imaginary homicides.

"I wonder what Tenten is doing now?" said Ino. She'd run  
across the weapon master earlier and was able to finagle a  
strawberry and banana flavored crepe in a deal for what she  
knew.

------------

"Tenten!" a voice called out in greeting, which had the  
effect of bringing said girl to a stop. Rock Lee waved to  
her enthusiastically, obviously the source of the greeting.  
Neji Hyuuga trailed behind him, walking at a more sedate  
pace, but gave her a nod when their eyes met.

"Hey guys," she greeted, "enjoy your training trip?"

Tenten intended that more for Neji since she knew without  
asking what Lee's reply would be.

"It was... adequate," Neji answered stiffly, telling Tenten more with his agitated state than words.

"It was more than just adequate!" Lee interjected with his  
usual "passionate blend" of gusto as Tenten had come to  
call his outburst. Neji had other words for it, but never  
chose to say them.

"The 'Ascending Steps of Heaven' were just..." he couldn't  
find an apt term.

"Boring," Neji flatly stated, shouldering past a horrified  
Lee as he sat on a wooden bench nearby.

"How can you say that?" Lee asked, reeling from his  
teammate's assessment. Tenten sat down on the bench as  
well, to hear Lee's rebuttal. "The scorching sun allowed  
us to shed the product of our efforts!"

"The sun and the lack of water ensured I had to smell the  
product of you and Gai-sensei's efforts," Neji countered,  
dismissing Lee's reasoning.

Even if Lee wasn't aware of it, it was times like this that  
Tenten relished. When the three of them could spend some  
quiet time relaxing and being normal--

"What about when we had the opportunity to climb the sheer  
face of the mountain with weighted backpacks and ankle  
manacles?" Lee asked.

Well, normal WAS a relative term, Tenten acknowledged,  
wearing an awkward grin.

"I lost two buttons and tore the side of my favorite shirt.  
The ends did not justify the means," Neji decided.

It was hard to discern from simply reading his tone and  
expression whether he was serious or making an honest  
attempt at being funny. Tenten thought it was genuine  
enough as she let loose soft sniggering. Neji and Lee both  
gave her questioning looks, which only made her laugh  
harder. One obviously didn't get it, judging by demeanor,  
but the ghost of a smile she got from the other was well   
worth it. Tenten pieced together her composure once more,  
wiping amused tears from her eyes. "Ah, that was good. It  
wasn't the same without you guys around," she commented.

"Did we miss anything of importance?" Neji asked. He  
could've waited to be caught up until after getting home,  
but it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides,  
sometimes getting the latest news from an unbiased source  
was worth it.

"Mmm. I don't think there was anything big happening  
lately," Neji and Lee nodded in tandem, "unless you like  
gossip."

She waggled her eyebrows, trying to entice one of the pair  
into asking. Neji dodged the obvious bait, while Lee set  
out to prove that there was no such thing as an obvious  
trap that he could be deterred from triggering.

"What gossip?" he asked.

"I'm glad you asked that question, Lee." Tenten gave a  
playfully withering look at Neji. "There just happens to  
be romance in the air!"

Neji turned his attention elsewhere. To the drying paint  
on the wall 90 meters to his right - magenta, an excellent  
choice.

"Really? With who?" The subject of romance and love was a  
vicious tiger that Lee had no hand-to-hand counter for,  
which distressed him since his master had taught him to  
conquer all obstacles with burning passion! So, any tip,  
hint, rumor or story fascinated him - as if a secret  
technique lay hidden, waiting to be uncovered by keen   
perception. "Is it you, Tenten?"

She snorted. "I wish. No, it's actually between Naruto  
and Hina--WHA!" Neji had turned and grabbed her by the  
shoulders, a new and frightening look etched on his  
features.

Lee suspected it was the first movement in a specialized  
Hyuuga family love attack, and took notes.

"Tell me everything. Now," he bade, and Tenten found  
herself hard-pressed not to accede.

------------

"HORSE MONKEY!" Sakura proclaimed, jabbing an accusatory  
finger at Ino, who for her part was all too familiar with  
the gibberish exclamations of outrage her friend sometimes  
used for propriety's sake. "Spit my tea back up, this  
instant!" she demanded, feeling cheated. "That story holds  
as much truth as Naruto does restraint around ramen!"

"Call it FLYING MONKEYS, for all I care, but the truth is  
simply the truth, my dear," Ino informed Sakura. She was  
unruffled and kept her cool despite the overdose of frank  
disbelief she was getting.

"Let me get this straight," Sakura began, rubbing at a  
developing headache. "You expect me to believe that Mister  
Instant Ramen is pulling a Casanova on the Shrinking  
Violet?"

Ino nodded her head.

"Oh come on! Give me some credit here," she said, throwing  
her hands up in the air.

"I would, if you could smell the difference between the  
rosy truth and a crock of lies," Ino retorted with a roll  
of her eyes for effect.

Sakura sputtered. "But that's impossible!"

"Improbable, not impossible," Ino corrected.

A moment was taken as Sakura digested this all. She cast  
still doubtful eyes on her partner. "You swear you're not  
just--"

"On my honor as a kunoichi and an unrepentant news hog,"  
Ino swore, heading off any accusations, with a special hand  
sign used between them symbolizing absolute truth.

"Appropriate word choice, Hog," Sakura sniped, though there  
was no fire or real intent behind the words. The tone was  
one of distraction as her eyes drifted to her desk where a  
group photo of Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, and herself stood  
framed. She wasn't sure how to feel about this latest  
snippet of headline news since it stirred up an   
indescribable feeling of discontent. Ino watched her with  
some scrutiny and Sakura could only guess what thoughts she  
entertained regarding her reactions.

"I thought you didn't like him?" Ino questioned. Sakura  
hummed noncommittally and that was interpreted as vague  
admission that it was half right. "This bothers you a  
little then, doesn't it?"

She received no reply this time and that cemented its  
position as an unspoken yes.

'Oh, this could get messy...' Ino lamented with an internal  
groan.

"Now don't go making assumptions," Sakura said. It was an  
empty gesture since they both knew well enough that leaps  
and bounds in logic were already taking place behind the  
scenes. "I'm just surprised, that's all!" she tried to  
assure.

'Another half-truth,' Ino tallied. 'Now, was that to  
convince me or convince yourself, Sakura?'

Ino didn't need to say it out loud since she knew well  
enough that that's what Sakura was mulling over. It was  
peculiar, but comforting on some level that they knew  
each other so well that the unsaid meant as much as what  
was said and the hidden meaning in their respective silence  
spoke volumes. They were open books to each other and Ino   
was fastidiously reading Sakura's cliffnotes; she didn't  
like the intricate drama that was being foreshadowed.

"Sakura..." Ino warned tepidly.

"I know," Sakura deflected, her tone more torpid than  
clipped.

Somehow being first to catch wind of the romantic headline  
news wasn't so fun. It was like biting into an apple  
expecting sweet and crunchy, and coming away with a  
mouthful of tasteless slosh.

------------

The sky hadn't cleared up yet, but the abundant moisture on  
the ground and air provided feed for a smoky grey fog that  
wafted neck high. In the soupy thick of it were young Kiba  
Inazuka and his canine sidekick Akamaru.

'And you smell like Naruto?' he heard himself announce like  
a goofy idiot.

It was that odd hour between late night and early morning  
where it was neither dark nor light out. A time when good  
ninja should be tucked in bed, a point that Akamaru would  
agree to respectfully if asked on the matter. Be that as  
it may, here Kiba was, lost in a thick fog of his own  
making, not even taking note of the one around him. Then   
again, he wasn't paying attention to much save the patch of  
grass at his feet as he slouched on the stump of an old  
tree.

"And you do..." Kiba muttered mockingly. Rubbing at his  
eyes, he wondered if there was a limit to how far he could  
cram his own head up his ass. He groaned and stooped low,  
interlacing his fingers behind his neck, while pillowing  
his elbows on his thighs.

Akamaru knew. Akamaru was well aware of all those answers  
and much more as he sneezed and shook the moisture off his  
sodden pelt. Through breeding, instruction, and care, he  
had acquired particularly keen doggy smarts. That is to  
say that though he might not be able to vocalize his  
thoughts in human terms, he was acutely aware of the   
happenings around him. Now, for instance, Akamaru knew  
that his caregiver was unhappy and it had to do with   
"not-man-with-the-nervous-smell-and-sharp-eyes" who they   
ran into earlier today. The one he noticed smelled  
distinctly of "fox-man-with-noodle-breath."

"Dumbass, dumbass, dumbass, dumbass!" Kiba berated.

Akamaru scratched his flank with his hind leg before giving  
himself another full-body shake. He cleaned his paw  
judiciously with his tongue, still keeping Kiba in his  
sights. Even if the boy was pack leader, Akamaru knew it  
was times like this that he had to keep an eye on his   
charge lest he slack in his ability to brush him and give  
him morsels of meaty treats. It was also his duty, he  
knew, to shake him out of silly stupors related to a failed  
mating attempt. There were many more, he wanted to tell  
him, but his master would just have to interpret it from  
his actions instead.

A small, detached part of Kiba's mind registered that  
Akamaru wasn't happy, gnawing on his ankle as he was. He  
didn't muster an iota of reaction - much to the pup's  
disappointment - and his boots received no mercy in light  
of it.

Alas, it would take much stronger measures, which Akamaru  
just wasn't built for yet. He briefly considered the  
merits of climbing on Kiba's head to give him a warm bath,  
but watching a heavy medicine ball strike him flush in the  
face instead was satisfaction enough.

"Lee, I believe your aim was distinctly off-target," an  
exuberant voice, far too inappropriate for the early  
morning, pointed out.

Kiba fingered his split lip and cursed. All thoughts of  
brooding left as quickly as his patience did.

"The hell are you guys doing here?" he spat in an angry  
growl.

"What's this I spy with my beautiful eyes? Someone  
maximizing his youth before dawn?" The jolly green giant  
of Konoha observed as he stepped to the fore, with his  
devoted acolyte in tow.

Of course it just HAD to be Gai and Lee, Kiba remarked with  
a sigh, as Akamaru perched on his head.

"No, you freaks, I was just--"

"EXCELLENT!" master and apprentice crowed, pumping their  
arms furiously in the name of Great Justice!

"Being ignored..." Kiba finished lamely, as Akamaru  
grinned. He glanced away, deeper in the forest, wondering  
if he could flee before they noticed.

Gai and Lee didn't allow silence to intercede as they  
paraded into a visual demonstration of how they themselves  
go about flexing their youthful energies. The lengthy  
mating dance they engaged in involved obvious mutual  
interest, and who was he to get in the way of such a   
showing? Thus, he sought out an opportunity to politely  
slip away...

"Do you suppose Naruto is out maximizing his youth,  
Gai-sensei?" Lee held a stance with his hands around the  
small of his instructor's back.

"Undoubtedly, when romance is concerned," Gai responded,  
causing Kiba to jerk to a stiff halt, "but let's not get  
tangled up with intimate rumors we have no business with."

Gai nodded in approval at the skilled hands displayed by  
his pupil. A series of counter points across his chest had  
to be struck to still the tingling that Lee had sent down  
his body.

Kiba dared to crane his head back slowly to the prancing  
pair. He prayed his eyes wouldn't betray him and sink back  
into his skull.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, though he knew it  
could only be confirmation of what his nose had detected  
earlier.

"You weren't aware of - Oh, sensei! - what they say was  
going on in the forest?" Lee grunted, currently locked in  
one of Gai's patented Python Embrace.

Kiba looked sick, but it was uncertain if it was from the  
display in front of him or the images his mind assaulted  
him with of Naruto and Hinata.

"Now, Lee," Gai lectured, tightening his hold. "What a  
couple chooses to do in private is none of our concern."

Lee tried to agree, but nodding his head made a joint  
audibly pop and trying to speak made white spots dance  
across his vision.

Kiba shook while rooted in place like a boiling kettle, but  
whatever restraints held him frayed and finally gave way.  
It was a howling, heartbroken missile that tore headlong  
back to the village with Akamaru holding on tight.

"Where do you suppose he's going, in such a hurry?" Lee  
asked his master. A limber twist, a deft pull and squeeze  
had gained him freedom and for his instructor a precarious  
stranglehold.

"To fan..." Gai gurgled, arms trapped and back arched like  
a strung bow, "the burning fire of youth!"

He was finally forced to tap out for mercy with his foot.  
His eyes and teeth gleamed, not in disappointment for  
losing, but for pride in his star pupil's accomplishment.

The pair flashed mutual thumbs up. There was, after all,  
nothing greater than being passionate. They quickly  
renewed their sparring. At stake - the loser of the best  
of seven bouts was slated to bunny hop the perimeter of  
Konoha with fifty-pound weights while dodging shuriken and  
kunai attacks.

Glorious!

------------

Naruto wasn't sure when it was that he'd fallen asleep, or  
even how, for that matter, but awareness of his situation  
returned to him gradually. His mind wriggled through the  
many depths to break the surface of consciousness as the  
sound of forest birds reached his ears and the intake of  
breath brought the moist scent of grass, earth, and pine to  
his nose. His eyes were still uncooperative - refusing to  
fully open beyond a crack - as the last vestiges of sleep   
tugged insistently on the edge of his mind. Naruto was at  
least spared being lanced by the morning sun, haloed as he  
was under a bright orange umbrella.

'Where did this come from?' he wondered before the sharp,  
distinct sound of a snapping twig sent the roosting birds  
in the branches overhead scurrying. A cascade of cold,  
dewy droplets rained down from the sudden movement. Wet  
and a little startled, Naruto was quickly on his feet with  
the umbrella in hand defensively. The amused visible eye  
of his instructor – Kakashi Hatake - met his bloodshot  
orbs.

"Yo!" he greeted cheerfully. Naruto frowned, closing the  
umbrella.

"Why'd you have to wake me up like that!" Patient pupil  
asked venerable master.

"Like what?" Kakashi replied. His expression behind his  
mask betrayed the puzzled tone in his voice.

"Like THAT!" Naruto screamed, indicating the halves of a  
broken twig in the man's hands.

"Now how did those get there?" Kakashi wondered aloud,  
tossing them over his shoulder to the wayside. Naruto  
fumed as the man took on a contemplative pose. "The last  
thing I recall was trying to help get a little girl's kitty  
down from a tree..."

"LIAR!" Naruto accused, earning a not-so-genuine grin of  
innocence from the renowned Copy Ninja. The blonde  
grumbled at the older man's antics, but let the matter  
drop. "So, what brings you here? Don't tell me you came  
all this way just to torture sleeping boys?"

"Yes, that's it exactly. I live for torturing little  
boys," Kakashi agreed, which bought a horrified look from  
his student. "Is what I would say if I was joking, of  
course."

Naruto shot him a wary and doubtful look.

"I was actually looking for my precious student who never  
made it back to his apartment." At this, Kakashi coughed  
and gave Naruto a look, which he dodged with a glance away.

"I was just training and I got tired. That's all," Naruto  
replied, kicking at a loose pebble near his feet.

"Admirable," Naruto looked up, "but you should've called it  
quits before you passed out."

The blonde nodded his head, grudgingly conceding the point.

The brief lull that had settled was interrupted when a  
thought occurred to Naruto. "Wait, how did you know I  
didn't go back to my apartment?"

Kakashi wore a casual and bored expression as he led them  
back towards the village.

"Oh, I check up on the three of you from time to time.  
Just to make sure you're all at home and that you're okay."  
He was awarded an astonished look as he continued.

"Why, I even know that you like to wear a cute little night  
cap when you go to bed," Kakashi continued as Naruto  
sputtered, "and that when Sakura goes to bed, she doesn't  
wear any..."

He stopped short, chuckling lasciviously with obvious  
results.

The image floating in the head of the rambunctious teen was  
anything but chaste as blood enflamed his cheeks. He  
wanted to rally against the impropriety that Kakashi had  
practically admitted to, but his thoughts were quite firmly  
entrenched where they were and no plans present to navigate  
in another direction.

"Pervert," Kakashi whispered in his ear, sucking the wind  
from Naruto's furled sails with that accusation. "All I  
said was she doesn't wear a night cap."

Naruto turned a shade just short of purple as his mouth  
flopped uselessly open and closed at being caught. "I-I  
don't want to hear it from YOU of all people!"

"Oh, what will poor Sakkura think? To know that her  
teammate stares at her with such hungry eyes?"

"GRAAAAAAAAARGH!" Naruto howled, at wit's end. He took a  
harried and clumsy kick at Kakashi's legs, which was neatly  
avoided with a hop.

Kakashi cupped his ears. "What's that? You want me to  
tell her right away?"

"NONONONONO!" the desperate blonde pleaded.

"Now? Right this very minute? Well, if you insist!"  
Kakashi announced, before a broad leap to the branches  
above his head propelled him to a speedy getaway from his  
blonde persecutor.

"Sakura!" he called out, mischievously. The look on  
Naruto's face was worth gold.

"Don't you DARE!" Naruto screeched, horrified, trailing  
right on the older man's heels.

------------

Author's Note: Time and inspiration yields a second  
chapter. How very fun and exciting. Special thanks go out  
to Midnight and Ragnar for pre-reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Konoha was relatively quiet during the wee hours of the  
morning as the majority of people were still shuttered away  
inside their homes. There were a few shops and eateries  
that bustled with activity, though, as they prepared to  
cater to the needs of the encroaching morning rush. Neji  
Hyuuga walked among them and simply observed.

His mind was weighed heavily with thought, effectively  
mooring him to an insomniac's pier. Meditation had helped  
some, but he still felt sluggish with the lack of actual  
sleep. He had hoped that a short walk would do the trick,  
but the cool air proved only to be a catalyst for even more  
musings.

"This is all Uzumaki's fault," Neji decided, grumbling.

He took a cursory bite out of an apple that a storeowner  
had given him. It was supposedly part of a "spread the word  
by mouth" promotion, the man had said. Neji nibbled on it,  
organizing his thoughts on the subject of Naruto.

He held no firm opinions about him, though it was plainly  
clear that others didn't share such a lack of sentiment.  
There was, he admitted, something about him that he found  
disquieting. A quality that he couldn't quite pin down with  
words, but left him feeling frustrated whenever the boy was  
spouting his Hokage nonsense.

But sometimes -- just sometimes –- it wasn't just garbage  
coming out of Naruto's mouth and it was in those instances  
that he'd feel an odd twinge inside that made him feel...

There was a loud teeth-chattering racket as the steam  
engine known as Naruto Uzumaki chugged overhead in pursuit  
of a one-eyed, Jounin bandit.

Like punching him in the face. Repeatedly.

Neji turned and jogged back towards the Hyuuga compound  
purposefully.

------------  
Not So Ordinary Day  
Chapter 3  
By Rai-kun

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters and settings belong  
to Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, and Viz Communication.  
------------

It was late morning, approaching midday. The lights were  
turned out and curtains drawn tight, but Kiba Inuzuka had  
no plans of getting up.

Keening whines and scratching noises sounded in an attempt  
to coax him out of bed. He poignantly ignored it, pulling  
the sheets and comforter more tightly around him.

As loyal as Akamaru was, he had finally reached his limit.  
He let off a disgusted snort and vigorously shook his mane,  
releasing the frustration that had been building. He was  
ready to head off, but stopped just short.

A primitive idea was brewing in his plum-sized brain and a  
grin that a certain noodle-scented-fox-boy would approve of  
split his face. His master was in for a treat, courtesy of  
canine machinations.

------------

The ensuing silence did wonders to flavor Kiba's brooding.  
A dash of irritation was added to a pinch of self-loathing,  
a teaspoon of regret, and a light drizzling of heavy envy.  
The mixture had been left to freely sit at room temperature  
for the last hour to allow bubbles of memory to float to  
the surface.

Melancholy reflections of this sort were common  
ingredients, but the end result was easily spoiled.

Heavy, steady footsteps marched to the gates of his domain  
where a crude battering ram meted out a greeting with three  
sharp raps against his thick wooden door. The man-dough in  
turn twitched, looking quickly like it was going to bring  
the emotional baking to a screeching halt.

------------

When making a soufflé, it's very important to remember that  
one must NOT open the oven door while the ingredients are  
cooking.

------------

Kiba tried projecting the frown on his face through the  
door to the intruder.

"Go away!"

It garnered him nothing, save hope that was quickly trodden  
beneath stubborn determination. It sounded like an angry  
rhino was tusk-humping his door.

"Leave me alone!"

Luck seemed to smile on him as the pounding subsided with  
that last demand. But then the siege renewed with spit and  
vinegar -- evidence that victory would be a fickle creature  
that wouldn't lend itself to service.

The door eventually conceded, blowing off at its hinges,  
and he deflated.

------------

Another common mistake when attempting to make a soufflé is  
the tendency to over-beat the mixture.

------------

"I spy with my little eye something... squashed."

'Squashed?' Kiba wondered, moments before a crushing elbow  
was delivered express mail to the small of his back marked  
"fragile."

He bucked like a speared fish and managed an odd squeak.

"You know, Akamaru," the voice of his sister, Hana Inuzuka,  
began, "I thought Kiba was here, but all I see is this  
dirty bed roll."

Hana hummed a tuneless little ditty as she viciously  
twisted and jabbed him with the edged joint of her arm.  
Each tweak coaxed a little whimper out of Kiba, though he  
remained steadfast in his resolve to remain bundled.

Akamaru barked.

"What's that, boy? You think we should give Kiba's smelly  
sheets a good wash?"

Kiba could literally FEEL the smug and wicked smirk his  
sister was wearing from the odd lilt that took over her  
voice. Akamaru barked yet again and the hint of upbeat  
flavor told him his partner wore a matching expression.

"Traitor..." Kiba mumbled under his breath.

"Well, okay then. Up we go," Hana drawled, before hoisting  
him up onto her shoulder like a sack of rice.

------------

Toppings are an option. A peach purée, for example, makes a  
light and flavorful compliment. Use it conservatively,  
however, as the high water content can ruin the  
consistency.

------------

The smell of the wet grass hit Kiba's heightened senses,  
then the stagnant waft coming from their pond made his nose  
crinkle up in disgust.

"You wouldn't," his muffled voice stated, though there was  
a touch of uncertain questioning in his tone that spoke of  
no factual backing.

Hana shifted him off her shoulder for ease of throwing.

"Oh, come on!" Kiba tried to appeal. His panic rose with  
his tenor as she swung him to and fro, gathering momentum.

"1..."

"Shit! Wait!"

"...2..."

"Hold up! I said hold up!"

"...3!"

Kiba felt brief weightlessness then his stomach plummeted  
as gravity took hold.

"Nooooooooooo!"

Hana barked out in knee slapping laughter on catching him  
trying to flap his arms from inside his bedroll. It was  
like watching a giant caterpillar skip the pupa phase and  
head straight for flying.

It was a spectacular aviation failure.

------------

"Are you still mad?" Hana needled, poking Kiba's cheeks  
playfully as the youth attempted to towel off his ragged  
mane.

He slapped her hand away with a growl.

"What do you think!" he snarled curtly, and then wished he  
hadn't on catching the flicker that passed across his  
sister's face.

In the span of a heartbeat he was taken by the scruff of  
his shirt, then slammed to the hard packed turf. He wasn't  
even given a chance to spit out the grit in his mouth for  
an apology before a kunai punched into a spot near his left  
ear. His body stilled and his eyes traveled the length from  
his warped reflection in the flat of the blade to an  
unflinching glare that pinned him in place.

Kiba fought down a shiver and rolled over onto his back  
with his arms and legs akimbo in supplication. The tense  
moment passed quickly thereafter with Hana retrieving her  
weapon and giving Kiba silent assent to sit up from off the  
ground.

The Inuzuka house followed a strict line of pack dominance  
where members knew their place in the pecking order. Hana,  
being elder, sat ahead of Kiba, but deferred to her mother,  
who in turn bowed to her father, who was the head of the  
clan -- the Alpha. Kiba had inadvertently crossed that  
strict line and thus was duly punished, but just as quickly  
was forgiven, as was the way.

"So, you going to tell Big Sister what's wrong, or do I  
have to beat it out of you?" Hana began, sporting a good-  
natured grin.

While it might be strange to outsiders to transition so  
quickly from aggression back to affection as she did, it  
was perfectly normal to any Inuzuka member.

Kiba's mouth opened, ready to reply, but nothing came  
forward, earning foot-tapping irritation from his sister  
who waited expectantly. Regardless, his inability continued  
a few times more before he finally dipped his head and  
mumbled inaudibly.

"I can't hear you. Speak up," Hana said dryly.

Kiba grimaced.

"He said he's a loser and that he let a damn fox take his  
girl."

Kiba whirled around, horrified, looking for the culprit.  
His eyes honed in on a tawny leg that freely dangled from a  
cherry tree near the compound's outer wall.

"KIKOE!" Kiba sputtered, outraged. Hana merely smirked.

Location discovered, not that a real attempt at concealment  
was made, a figure tumbled free from the thick branches and  
landed softly, in a crouch.

It was revealed to be a girl, near Kiba's age, with dark  
shoulder length hair, worn loose. Her eyes were an  
unnatural golden-yellow hue that sparkled as she cheerfully  
waved.

"What are YOU doing here?" Kiba asked gruffly, earning a  
loud open-palmed slap to the back of his head.

Kikoe winced sympathetically.

"Hello, Kikoe," Hana greeted, not breaking her smile. Kiba  
rubbed his head with a hiss, internally cursing the ways of  
violent women.

"Mistress Hana," the girl politely replied, sketching a  
respectful bow. She then gave Kiba a shy smile, which went  
rudely ignored.

Hana's smile tightened, but Kiba missed that subtle turn.

"Is that a new dress?" Kikoe nodded. "Turn around, let me  
see it."

She wore a modified deep-blue kimono with touches of grey  
and white weave work near the collar, hem, and sleeves. The  
skirt ended just short of the middle of her mesh-covered  
thighs and a slit on each hip revealed tights that  
preserved modesty. The ensemble was tied at the waist with  
a sturdy black cloth belt.

"That's gorgeous," Hana gushed. And she meant it too -- a  
sentiment shared by both Kikoe and her mother, the proud  
designer.

"Do you like it, Kiba?" the girl asked, hopefully.

Kiba gave it a cursory glance and judged the getup to be  
impractical, especially the floppy, voluminous sleeves. He  
gave it a snort in dismissal.

A slight drooping of the shoulders was all that betrayed  
that the brusqueness had, in fact, stung. To say that Kikoe  
was used to the frosty welcome would be a lie, but it was  
sadly becoming the accepted norm between them.

But not for all parties, as a lightning quick fist flashed  
out and caught Kiba flush at the base of his jaw. He was  
blasted off his feet and dropped on his backside after  
three pirouettes.

"Uh..." Kikoe issued, uncomfortably. She glanced between  
the siblings with uncertainty.

"I'll leave you two to chat," Hana announced, in thickly  
strained tones. A spastic tick was working furiously at the  
corner of her brow and she spun on her heels to head  
inside.

She stopped just at the threshold, however.

"Kiba," she prompted, and the younger Inuzuka raised his  
head slightly in acknowledgment. "I expect a good story  
later about your fox problem."

He merely grunted and his sister continued on her way.

------------

A thick, heady sensation roughly escorted Hinata to  
wakefulness. She shifted her head on her pillow and earned  
herself a throbbing headache that started at her eyes and  
shot out of her forehead after ricocheting wildly in her  
skull.

"Guh...Ugha...Murgle..."

That summed up her current state and opinion succinctly.

Hinata crossed her arms in front of her to stifle the blast  
of radioactive cheer that snuck past the guard of her  
blinds and shot her in the face. She made a disgusted noise  
at the futility of her efforts and cracked open sleepy  
eyes, which cleared and focused onto her cousin Neji, who  
was... flushed and panting heavily?

Hinata backpedaled out of bed until her back hit the corner  
wall of her bedroom. Never had she moved so quickly in all  
her young life.

"W-w-w-what do you think you're doing!" she demanded,  
shrilly. Neji didn't reply, drawing closer purposely.

"Wha-wa-w-wait, wait, wait!" Hinata stammered out in  
panicked succession.

He seemed disinclined to her plea, as he roughly grabbed  
her by the shoulders. "Hinata-sama, I..."

Hinata closed her eyes and mewed out the first thing that  
came to mind, "Naruto-kun..."

There was a sputter followed by a choked gurgle that gave  
Hinata some pause. She hazarded a nervous peek at her  
cousin who seemed to be tangled tightly in a snare of  
unpleasant thought.

"No," Neji said firmly, initially more to himself than her.  
He then shifted his attention to her directly and repeated  
the word once more with emphasis.

"I-I don't understand," Hinata told him, now baffled rather  
than scared. "What are you...?"

"Not Naruto," he finally cobbled together in words, though  
not effectively, it seemed, as Hinata's brows knitted  
together.

"Not Naruto what? What exactly are you trying to tell me?"

Neji gave a soft growl in self-scolding at how little sense  
he was making.

"Your feelings for Naruto Uzumaki..."

A warm tingle washed over Hinata at the mention of that  
particular name.

"I can't allow it."

Then she froze over.

------------

Author's Note: Oh for the love of all that is holy! I'm  
finally done with writing this accursed chapter!

For those not in the know, I was re-writing the scene with  
the cooking reference over and over and over because a  
trusted advisor of mine was telling me that the spacing was  
off. So I kept fixing the length thinking that's what he  
was referring to. Turns out he was talking about adding a  
space between the cooking menu tips and the dividing  
hyphens on the tops and bottoms of each one.

It's miscommunication like that, which make me want to cry  
sometimes...


	4. Chapter 4

Squeak-squeak.

That was the sound of a pair of disgruntled bedsprings  
crying out in protest at being disturbed in the dead of  
night.

"Mmm..."

That was the voice of Sakura Haruno.

Squeak-squeak-wonk-squeal!

The irate and vocal mattress union banded together to voice  
their displeasure with the current work environment. Being  
newly purchased, they were unsure of what was going on, but  
they knew instinctively it wasn't part of normal sleep  
procedure and blamed management.

Squeak-wonk-squeak-squeal-squeal-wonk!!

The wizened bed frame knew, though; all too well, in fact,  
and let out a sigh and groaned. Sakura matched it in  
chorus, but also added soft whimpering with unintended  
flair and effect.

"Nngh... N-no," she hiccupped, her voice thick with  
emotion. Turning over onto her stomach saw her hips  
hitched up into the air.

Eyes were screwed tight, as a bead of sweat inched its way  
down her brow. Hands pulled, twisted, and bunched handfuls  
of mussed bed sheet as she felt flushed warmth suffuse the  
length from her head to her toes. A familiar and oddly  
comforting sensation was building in the fiery pit of her  
belly, seeking release.

It was on an inaudible cue, like a rubber band being pulled  
to the breaking point, that her limit was reached. She  
bucked and thrashed, limbs flailing in all directions as a  
primal cry tore loose from the cage of her lips.

"W-why... AM I STILL AWAKE?!"

------------

Not So Ordinary Day

Chapter 4

By Rai-kun

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters and settings belong  
to Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, and Viz Communication.

------------

Flocks of birds were startled into flight at the shout, but  
the sun heedlessly crept on above the horizon, past the  
tops of the Hokage Monument, to stir the denizens of Konoha  
from their sleep. Save those already up, like Sakura. If  
she were in the right mindset, she probably would have  
argued that one needed to have attained sleep to actually  
be coaxed into wakefulness; as it was, this was merely  
exhaustion running on 24-7 with no commercial interruptions.

The insomnia had granted her great insight, however, with  
the abundance of time to think and think and think and  
think and... Sleep had adequately proven itself to be  
something like an elusive soap bar. The more effort she  
exerted to attain it, the more forcefully it squirted out  
of her grasp like a sudsy rocket.

Her head felt fuzzy and her eyes burned even while closed.   
She felt lethargic and heavy, as if her entire blood supply  
had been replaced with cement. The shrill buzzing of her  
alarm clock coaxed a fierce growl from the girl, as she  
rolled herself out of bed to turn it off.

Sakura gave her reflection an once-over in a full-length  
mirror and declared a state of emergency. She tried to  
comb her fingers through her hair, but hissed and winced on  
catching the patchwork of matted tangles. She shuffled  
awkwardly like a slug back to her nightstand where her  
hairbrush lay, and happened to glance at the group photo of  
Team 7.

Again, the odd feeling from last night welled up and she  
vented it in a most unladylike manner -- by blowing his  
portrait image a raspberry.

"Stupid Naruto," she half-heartedly berated.

Sometimes he was just so...

-----------

"Troublesome."

"WHAT?" Ino screeched. "I dare you to say that again, you  
insensitive jerk!"

The target of her ire, one Shikamaru Nara, shot her a  
sidelong glance that spoke volumes of the indifference he  
felt.

"Trou-ble-some," he enunciated. Each syllable was  
delivered with exaggerated slowness for maximum effect.   
Perhaps too much, he noted, as he dodged a kick aimed at  
his shin.

"And you're proving my point," Shikamaru commented drolly,  
digging his hands into his pockets.

Ino reminded him of a kettle, with all of her hissing and  
sputtering. He smirked when she began stomping her feet,  
as if the exercise would hammer home the points in her weak  
argument. The expression soon slipped, however, when  
villagers around them stopped to take in the spectacle,  
whispering amongst themselves. Shikamaru pinched the  
bridge of his nose -- half in embarrassment and half from  
the migraine that was building.

"I just wanted to sit on the hill and relax," he lamented.

He really wished his mother weren't so adamant that he got  
his "lazy butt out of the house," as she put it, and that  
his butter-soft father was useless in this case didn't  
help. Ino stopping by to deliver flowers right when she  
did was a suspicious coincidence, one that the sly Nara  
matriarch quickly cashed in on. A push, a wave, and a  
swift kick to the butt later, he was hoisted off on the  
"nice" girl, with a locked door slammed behind him in  
farewell. Shikamaru thought her pick-pocketing his house  
keys on top of that was a little much.

He turned his attention back to his lovely companion who  
was busy roasting him on a spit with her heated glares.   
"Look, I just don't want to get involved in one of your  
harebrained schemes. Period. End of story."

"You didn't even listen to my whole explanation, though!"

"Don't need to. You lost me the moment you started using  
nasty four-letter words."

"What--" Ino quickly counted the letters on her fingers to  
be certain. "Love isn't a nasty word, you idiot!"

The ever-skeptical Shikamaru didn't bother to stifle his  
incredulous snort.

"Ino, sometimes I think you do this on purpose."

"Do WHAT on purpose?" she snapped.

"Mess things up, then offer your 'help' to fix things after  
the fact," Shikamaru stated.

"Are you trying to start a fight? Because I can take you  
on right here, right now, if you're asking for it!"

He rolled his eyes. "See, this is exactly why I hate  
dealing with you chicks."

Ino gnashed her teeth.

"Everything has to be about drama."

"SHI...KA..."

He was far too absorbed in ticking off his list of why  
women in general were a pain, so he couldn't be faulted  
for not hearing what the "nice girl" was trying to tell him.

"MARU!!"

His head snapped up instantly, but then he froze like his  
namesake caught in headlights.

"Oh--"

------------

"Crap," Sakura hissed, rubbing the spot on her head where  
her brush had pulled painfully. She twirled away from her  
seat in front of the mirror and pitched herself across her  
bed. For the time being, she surrendered her hair as being  
a lost cause and focused her thoughts inwards.

Naruto.

The boy had obvious pluses and minuses that she was duly  
aware of -- some more obvious than others.

The attention that he'd shower her with, for instance, was  
nice, she admitted. Sometimes, she appended. When given  
in small doses it felt unbelievably good to be appreciated  
and desired so intensely. Unfortunately, "moderation" had  
no entry in Naruto's mental dictionary, where "overdose"  
was scribbled onto every page in orange crayon.

Take, for example, last week. He came dressed in wicked  
bee stings from head to toe. He endured all that just to  
give her a single pink flower. It was insane, it was  
unreasonable, and it was so--

So very Naruto, she acknowledged.

He'd go to great lengths to make her happy even at the cost  
of his own. It was a fact that brought a smile to her  
face, but at the same time it also made her feel...  
guilty. Terribly so, because it touched on the only big  
negative she could think of.

He just wasn't Sasuke.

It was mean, she knew, but she couldn't help it. His only  
major flaw was that he wasn't born as someone else. She  
felt kind of dirty and low for harboring such thoughts, but  
it was true no matter how cruel.

Sasuke always had this palpable gloom about him that a lot  
of girls thought was cool, but looking beyond that was a  
loneliness so deep that before you even realized it, you  
had your arms unconsciously outstretched to comfort him.   
Sometimes she thought she saw that same air around Naruto,  
but his cheerful bluster was hard to see through, so it was  
possible she was just misreading something.

Or was she?

Sakura shook her head, trying not to dwell on the matter.   
The incident with Ino last night probably pushed her more  
off-balance than she'd thought. It wasn't everyday that  
you had your worldview kicked in the teeth with steel toes,  
and that more than anything is probably why the latest  
development between Hinata and Naruto felt so weird.

It honestly bothered her. Not that she disliked Hinata,  
but the thought of her being together with Naruto violated  
something fundamental. Her inner voice likened it to a  
favorite toy being taken away, but she found herself hating  
that analogy because she knew what she was feeling wasn't  
something so petty. At least she hoped not.

Sakura rolled over onto her side and clutched her pillow to  
her chest as she glanced out her window. Ino had left  
specific instructions that she wait here for her return  
because she was supposed to be coming back with "a cure for  
what ailed her," whatever that meant.

"I hope Ino can..."

------------

"Explain why I'm paying for this?" Shikamaru asked in his  
"teacher finds this not amusing" tone.

"Because you embarrassed me," Ino primly affirmed, in a  
manner flippant students tend to. She spooned another  
mouthful of pricey parfait into her mouth and made a show  
of it, her toes seemingly curling in pleasure.

"I embarrassed you?" he asked incredulously, shedding his  
pretense of the calm and collected intellect.

"Yes. All those people were staring and laughing at what  
you made me do." She scrunched up her face sourly as she  
recalled the incident with a dollop of mortification.

"You punched me in the eye! In the middle of the village  
square!"

"You make it sound as if it were somehow my fault."

"You took a victory lap around me!"

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"That it IS your fault!"

"Now, Shikamaru," Ino said in lecturing tones, gesturing  
admonishingly with her spoon, "You are never going to get  
anywhere in life if you don't take responsibility for your  
own actions."

Shikamaru gaped, as his reason and voice packed up and left  
town arm in arm. "You-- I-- What-- Rah!"

He pinioned his head beneath his arms on the table. The  
weight of the girl's backwards logic was too much for his  
neck to hold up.

"Elbows off the table," Ino scolded.

Shikamaru jolted as if stung, but slowly, with stiffly  
mechanical movements, he righted himself and deigned to  
look his partner square in the eyes.

"I'll help," he croaked. His voice held an unhealthy  
lifelessness to it, like a dying man making his peace  
before a firing squad.

"I knew you'd come around." Ino looked like she was  
stopping herself just short from patting him on the head.

Shikamaru repressed a shudder as she fried him extra crispy  
with her beaming smile. It was far easier to just give in  
than to keep up this pointless fight. All good players  
know when to hold and know when to fold.

"So," Shikamaru began, "what exactly is this plan of yours?"

Ino drew back in her seat and crossed her arms, then put on  
a self-satisfied smirk.

"I'm glad you asked me that question, Shikamaru, because  
when you hear what I've got cooked up, you're going to know  
that..."

------------

"You've made a grave mistake," Neji stated bluntly, running  
Hinata through with his hardened glare.

Despite herself, the tone his voice carried made her flinch  
as if slapped. Past experience told her that defending her  
actions would only goad him to mercilessly tear down her  
arguments. So she instead made a concerted effort to match  
her cousin's stern gaze, which was far more contentious to  
Neji than she could imagine.

"Did you even stop to realize what the consequences would  
be if HE caught wind of this?"

'I don't care,' was what she wanted to say, but knew it  
would have been a lie.

Who "he" was DID matter, as what "he" thought was  
tantamount to law. "He" was her father, the head of the  
Main House, Hiashi Hyuuga.

"You will go to Uzumaki and end this farce before word  
spreads any further." Neji shot her a look that said he  
would brook no argument and Hinata could hold his gaze no  
further, dropping it to the floor.

Neji smirked, winning the short war of wills. He relished  
being able to twist the cruel knife into Hinata even if the  
face of his intended victim was not hers. He was quickly  
losing patience with her lack of response, though.

"Do not be selfish. This affects every member of the  
Hyuuga Clan, not just yourself. As the heir of the Main  
House you must act. Or will you have me dirty my hands in  
your stead?"

"I..." Hinata began, but stopped. She could not find her  
tongue as a numbing cold attacked her from the lump that  
formed in her throat. An uncomfortable sheen of nervous  
perspiration soaked her brow. If Neji noticed any of this,  
he didn't bring attention to it, which was a small  
consolation.

'What's there to end if there's nothing there to begin  
with?' she lamented. The painful cinching of her heart  
told her how false that statement was.

Before she could even reach an answer, however, Neji  
abruptly stood, derailing her thoughts.

"N-Neji, wait, what are you--"

"Obviously this simple task is beyond you." As he said it,  
he didn't even do her the courtesy of turning around. "Do  
not concern yourself further. It shall be dealt with."

The sound of her door sliding shut thundered in Hinata's  
ears as loudly as her heartbeats. A palpable sense of  
dread washed over her like a spray of cold water.

No good could come from whatever Neji planned, but she  
couldn't do anything. She knew it was too much for her.   
It was totally out of her control and--

Hinata's eyes widened and filled with horror.

The excuses came quick and easy to the tip of her tongue,  
and that realization was as shocking as it was sickening.   
Hinata wanted to scream at the top of her lungs in denial  
and self-incrimination, but she knew she couldn't allow  
herself such an outlet. As the heir, she had a role to  
play, an image to uphold, and a mask to wear. Thus, she  
had to swallow back the bitterness and compartmentalize  
what she was feeling...

And she did, to an extent, as the cracks in her mask let  
slip silent tears.

Hinata was bent over at the waist, her head resting on the  
straw floorboard. Bile rose up in her throat and she  
fought it back down bravely with huge gulps of air. All  
that she allowed herself to surrender further were her weak  
whimpers of self-loathing.

"I'm so sorry... So sorry..."

It was an apology that would go unheard by the person who  
she knew most needed to hear it.

------------

Author's Note: The angst train is pulling into the station!

It's a bit heavy towards the end, I'll admit, but I think I  
balanced it out with some fluff with the Ino and Shikamaru  
scenes. Let me know if you think I failed.

This was supposed to be a Sakura centered chapter, much  
like how the last one was mostly Kiba, and I'm pretty sure  
I failed in that regard...

Eh. It is what it is. Blame me and my muse with a review  
or an E-mail if you feel up to it. 


End file.
